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If you're going in early November, you'll be catching it at the best time of the year. Whether you're in North County or Imperial Beach (IB), it will probably be firing. Water will be 58-60, so you can get by with a 3/2 with booties but a 4/3 probably better.

Good, consistent beach breaks will be O'side, Blacks, and IB. I prefer La Jolla reefs and Sunset Cliffs, but the LJ reefs (Hospitals, Horseshoe, Big Rock) tend to be shallow and quirky. Cliffs are great at overhead, but cliff access can be sketchy and some spots don't take kindly to unfamiliar faces with leashes attached to their boards. Encinitas reefs are mellow, well shaped, glassy and have easy access. City beaches (OB and MB) can be good at the jetties but the crowds are pretty aggressive. If you have a log, you can't beat Tourmaline in PB.

If you have a passport, take the trip into Mexico and start hunting from Baja Malibu to K38. There are tons of class beach breaks and reefs between, with almost no crowds.

Solid advice right there ^^^ Just note that border crossing is a biatch and a half these days, allow HOURS on the return trip.

"If you're going in early November, you'll be catching it at the best time of the year. Whether you're in North County or Imperial Beach (IB), it will probably be firing. Water will be 58-60, so you can get by with a 3/2 with booties but a 4/3 probably better."

I live in North County. The water is 68 degrees currently. Bring a 2mm short arm fullsuit and maybe a 3/2. You'll look like a clown wearing boots and a 4/3....

i wouldnt go to California there are people in the line ups with intimidating nick names like... mike shreddog williams. sprayblaster macaurther, saltybarrels, and dont forget cholo-rific, i would hate to get laid out by those hardcore dudes.

i wouldnt go to California there are people in the line ups with intimidating nick names like... mike shreddog williams. sprayblaster macaurther, saltybarrels, and dont forget cholo-rific, i would hate to get laid out by those hardcore dudes.

Good stuff, thank you. We are thinking of heading up to NorCal around Santa Cruz for part of the trip. Anything decent for breaks between North County/Malibu and SC we should check out on the way up?

Emass, you can't go wrong in Ventura on the way up. The beach breaks are straight up class. Oxnard and the Strand frequently go off. After heavy rains, the SC rivermouth is a hepatitis freight train. If you have any connections with the proper 411, contact them now and see about access to The Ranch. If The Ranch is out of the question, definitely hit up Jalama State Park. I'd be surprised if it isn't breaking. Reminds me of Blacks somewhat. Too many points to list in Santa Barbara, which is now coming to life (doesn't break during summer). And lastly, blow through SLO. You're better off heading straight to SC, even though you'll have to contend with more crowds.

You'll notice I didn't mention C-Street, Sandspit, and Trestles because I prefer not surfing in madness. Yes, they can be perfect. So can Swami's. I just don't recommend them. But if you don't mind surfing with 200 other guys, then go for it. If Trestles is going off, then Cotton's or Church is too...without the neoprene speed bumps.

Also, the North County poster stated that it's 68 degrees right now. Cool! But isn't that kinda rare for mid-October? My bludz down in the Cliffs say the agua is 65-66 right now. I know it's cooler than that as you go further south, if that's your cup o' tea. Let us know if the water stays above 60 in another month. I lived there for 30 years and don't remember ever paddling out in November without booties. Peace and waves....

Emass, you can't go wrong in Ventura on the way up. The beach breaks are straight up class. Oxnard and the Strand frequently go off. After heavy rains, the SC rivermouth is a hepatitis freight train. If you have any connections with the proper 411, contact them now and see about access to The Ranch. If The Ranch is out of the question, definitely hit up Jalama State Park. I'd be surprised if it isn't breaking. Reminds me of Blacks somewhat. Too many points to list in Santa Barbara, which is now coming to life (doesn't break during summer). And lastly, blow through SLO. You're better off heading straight to SC, even though you'll have to contend with more crowds.

You'll notice I didn't mention C-Street, Sandspit, and Trestles because I prefer not surfing in madness. Yes, they can be perfect. So can Swami's. I just don't recommend them. But if you don't mind surfing with 200 other guys, then go for it. If Trestles is going off, then Cotton's or Church is too...without the neoprene speed bumps.

Also, the North County poster stated that it's 68 degrees right now. Cool! But isn't that kinda rare for mid-October? My bludz down in the Cliffs say the agua is 65-66 right now. I know it's cooler than that as you go further south, if that's your cup o' tea. Let us know if the water stays above 60 in another month. I lived there for 30 years and don't remember ever paddling out in November without booties. Peace and waves....

High 60's as a water temp aren't rare at all for this time of year. Yes, the water will be above 60 deg in the next month. It bottoms out around 58 in Jan/Feb for north county. Not sure about south county, but I can't remember ever wearing boots here. I've always thought they were optional, but never even considered until JAN/FEB.

Ya, I don't think you're going to need booties and hoodies or a drysuit. Unless you are going up North. Santa Cruz and Monterey is going to be a little colder but its still only November.

Have to agree with Emassspicoli... though it goes get ridiculously crowded everyone pretty much knows what they're doing and knows when their turn is. Depending on where you go though you may only get a handful of waves. At least its more organized in the line-up then here in Florida. Sometimes I just can't get over the lack of line-up knowledge or rules in which to play by. When I'm out there surfing it reminds me of a bunch of Pakistani taxi drivers. Everybody just goes all willy-nilly at once in every direction blowing their horns and hoping for the best! I think here in Florida though we have much more of a diverse kook to surfer ratio. Also the waves are crappier so the few spots that are breaking get massively crowded.

Hey man another sweet idea to maximize your trip would be to rent one of the VW vans out there. A lot of breaks you can just camp out in one of those vans. A friend of mine did that and said it was the best way to go! One big advantage was that they were the first ones in the line-up every day wherever they went. There's a lot of different ones out there but here's a link to one of them...